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The environmental review process provides decision-makers and the general public with an objective analysis of the immediate and long-range specific and cumulative environmental impacts of a proposed project on its surrounding physical environment. In California, environmental review is two-fold in purpose: to disclose the impacts of a project and to ensure public participation. The San Francisco Planning Department serves as the Lead Agency for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for most projects within San Francisco, and prepared an environmental impact report (EIR) for the Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP) between October 2011 and March 2014 in order to evaluate the environmental effects of the TEP.

The final EIR for the TEP was certified by the Planning Commission on March 27, 2014. Since that time, the TEP components have been renamed by the SFMTA as Muni Forward. Muni Forward also includes other related efforts that were not part of the TEP such as the Geary and Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) projects, which have their own environmental review processes. Muni Forward's plans to enhance safety for people walking, to create a Rapid Network, and to improve Muni reliability will be achieved with the combined implementation of two programs: service changes and transit priority projects.

Service Changes
The service changes being implemented will reduce crowding, improve system-wide neighborhood connectivity and access to regional transit, and redirect finite public resources to where they are needed most.

Addendum 3 to the EIR (Modified Expanded TTRP.8 on San Bruno Avenue between Rickard Street and Arleta Avenue)

On March 28, 2014, the SFMTA Board of Directors (SFMTA Board) approved the modified TEP and some of the projects outlined in the EIR. The TTRP.8X for the 8X Bayshore Express was not approved as part of the SFMTA Board action in order to allow time for additional public outreach and to accommodate design changes that would incorporate input from the community. In late 2014, the TEP was renamed "Muni Forward." In June 2016, the SFMTA proposed a modification to one component of the TEP, the Transit Travel Time Reduction Proposal for the TTRP.8X and renamed it to TTRP.8 for the 8 Bayshore and 9/9R San Bruno/ San Bruno Rapid routes resulting in changes to the Transit Preferential Streets Toolkit (TPS Toolkit) elements implemented on San Bruno Avenue from Rickard Street to Arleta Avenue.

The inbound direction for the TTRP.8 (also referred to as the San Bruno Avenue Multimodal Improvement Project) is east from the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) main campus and north towards the South of Market (SoMa) Area and the outbound direction is south from SoMa and west towards CCSF.

The SFMTA has modified the TTRP.8 Expanded Alternative on San Bruno Avenue from Rickard Street to Arleta Avenue. Addendum 3 to the TEP EIR has been issued and is available here.

On March 28, 2014, the SFMTA Board of Directors (SFMTA Board) approved the modified TEP and some of the projects outlined in the EIR. For the TTRP.5, improvements on Fulton Street between 25th Avenue and 46th Avenue and on McAllister Street between Fillmore and Divisadero Streets were the only segments approved by the SFMTA Board on March 28, 2014. On July 15, 2014 the SFMTA proposed a modification to one component of the TEP, Transit Travel Time Reduction Proposal for the 515L Fulton/Fulton Limited (TTRP.5) resulting in changes to the Transit Preferential Streets Toolkit (TPS Toolkit) elements implemented on McAllister Street at the intersection of McAllister and Divisadero Streets.

In late 2014, the TEP was renamed "Muni Forward." As of April 2015, the 5 Fulton/5L Fulton Limited (TTRP.5) route has been renamed as the "5 Fulton/5R Fulton Rapid." The inbound direction for the 5 Fulton /5R Fulton Rapid route is east from La Playa and Cabrillo Streets in the Richmond District along Fulton and McAllister Street towards Downtown. The outbound direction for this route is west from the Temporary Transbay Terminal on Howard Street between Main and Beale Streets in the South of Market area (SoMa) to Market Street, McAllister, Central and Fulton Streets to La Playa in the Richmond District. The SFMTA has modified the TTRP.5 Moderate Alternative at the intersection of McAllister Street and Van Ness Avenue. Addendum 2 to the TEP EIR has been issued and is available here.

Addendum to the EIR (Modified TTRP.9)

On March 28, 2014, the SFMTA Board of Directors (SFMTA Board) approved the modified TEP and some of the projects outlined in the EIR. Only the segment of the TTRP.9 on Potrero Avenue between Alameda and Cesar Chavez Streets was approved by the SFMTA Board on March 28, 2014, and for this segment the TTRP.9 Expanded Alternative was approved. The other two segments for the TTRP.9, consisting of 11th Street between the intersection of 11th and Market Streets and the intersection of 11th and Bryant Streets, Division Street between Bryant Street and Potrero Avenue (11th Street Segment); and one on Bayshore Boulevard between Jerrold Avenue and Industrial Street (Bayshore Boulevard Segment), as proposed in the EIR were not approved as part of the SFMTA Board action in order to allow time for additional public outreach and to accommodate design changes that would incorporate input from the community. As a result of public input, the SFMTA has modified the TTRP.9 Moderate Alternative for those two segments. An Addendum to the TEP EIR has been issued and is available here.

Background on the TEP

To make Muni service more convenient, reliable and attractive to existing and potential customers, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and the San Francisco Office of the Controller launched a detailed analysis of existing travel patterns and a comprehensive review of service options. The resultant Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP) represented the first major evaluation of transit service provision in San Francisco since the late 1970s. Although the TEP is called the Transit Effectiveness Project, the TEP is a program within SFMTA that is comprised of individual projects or categories of projects proposed for the Muni System. The TEP proposals include a series of service improvements and concurrent necessary capital investments designed to improve safety and service reliability and reduce travel time. The TEP is comprised of four major categories: service policy framework, service improvements, service-related capital projects, and travel time reduction proposals.

The proposed Service Policy Framework is a policy document consisting of objectives and actions to enable the SFMTA to effectively allocate transit resources, efficiently deliver service, improve service reliability, reduce transit travel time, and improve customer service. The Service Policy Framework also organizes Muni services into four distinct service types: Rapid Network, Local Network, Community Connectors and Specialized Services.

The proposed Service Improvements include: creating new routes, redesigning existing routes, or adding service to new streets; eliminating unproductive existing routes or route segments; changing vehicle type; changing frequency and span of service; changing the mix of local/rapid/express service; and other changes, such as new express service stops, expansion of rapid (limited-stop) service to include Sundays, and the expansion of other service with the addition of days of operation.

The proposed service-related capital projects include three categories of projects proposed as infrastructure to support service improvements: overhead wire expansion, transfer and terminal point improvements, and systemwide capital infrastructure.

The proposed travel time reduction proposals (TTRP) would implement roadway and bus stop changes to reduce delays on the transit routes in the Rapid Network. Changes include adding transit bulbs/boarding islands; replacing stop signs with traffic signals or other measures; transit stop changes including moving stops, eliminating stops and adding new stops; traffic engineering changes such as adding turn lanes, turn restrictions and transit-only lanes; and pedestrian improvements such as curb extensions and other crosswalk treatments. Collectively, these tools are called the Transit Preferential Streets toolkit (TPS toolkit).

As described above, the TEP components have been renamed as Muni Forward along with some other transit projects.

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